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Demba Ba risked antagonising his former Newcastle United team-mates last night
by saying that he will find it easier to perform alongside world-class
players at Chelsea.

The Senegal striker’s importance to his new club was shown by Rafael Benítez’s
decision to delay training by two hours to enable Ba to meet his new
colleagues yesterday, and he is expected to go straight into the starting
line-up for today’s FA Cup third-round tie away to Southampton.

Ba expressed delight at signing for Chelsea yesterday after a week of complex
negotiations and appeared equally relieved to have departed from Newcastle
after just